The General Social Surveys (GSS) have been conducted by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) annually since 1972, except for the years 1979, 1981, and 1992 (a supplement was added in 1992), and biennially beginning in 1994. The GSS are designed to be part of a program of social indicator research, replicating questionnaire items and wording in order to facilitate time-trend studies. The 2008 GSS featured special modules on attitudes toward science and technology, self-employment, terrorism preparation, global economics, sports and leisure, social inequality, sexual behaviors and religion. Items on religion covered denominational affiliation, church attendance, religious upbringing, personal beliefs, and religious experiences.

The GSS is in transition from a replicating cross-sectional design to a design that uses rotating panels. In 2008 there were two components: a new 2008 cross-section with 2,023 cases and the first re-interviews (panel) with 1,536 respondents from the 2006 GSS. The 2,023 cases in the cross-section have been previously released as a part of the 1972-2008 cumulative data. This new release includes those 1,536 re-interviewed panel cases along with the 2,023 cases. Please note that this is not a cumulative file - those cases and variables not surveyed in 2008 are excluded. Also note that, although those 1,536 cases were from the 2006 sample, this release does not include their responses in 2006. We plan to release a data file with the previous responses in the future. This release introduces new variables that were asked only of the panel cases of the 2008 GSS. The majority of variables introduced are related to the 2007 International Social Survey Program (ISSP) module on leisure time and sports.

NORC has introduced an innovative approach to demographic sampling frame construction and sample design for NORC's program of face-to-face surveys from 2004 onwards. The important changes from previous GSS designs are: (i) the construction of a new list-assisted sampling frame for 72 percent of the population; (ii) an increase in the size of the certainty stratum (the proportion of the population covered by certainty area selections); (iii) designation of new primary sampling units (PSUs) for the certainty stratum; (iv) designation of new secondary sampling units (SSUs) for the remaining "urban" areas; and (v) designation of larger SSUs for the remaining areas.

Principal Investigators

James A. DavisTom W. SmithPeter V. Marsden

Information on Weighting

OVERSAMP - As described in the previous section, the 1982 survey included an oversample of blacks. To make the 1982 survey a representative cross-section, the user can either exclude the black oversample cases by excluding codes 4 and 5 on SAMPLE or weight the file by OVERSAMP. To make the 1987 survey a representative cross-section the user can either exclude the black oversample by excluding code 7 on SAMPLE or weight the file by OVERSAMP. Users should adopt one of these procedures in all cases except when analyzing only blacks from the 1982 and/or 1987 cross-sections and oversamples.

FORMWT - Problems with form randomization procedures on the 1978, 1980, 1982-1985 surveys necessitate the use of FORMWT when variables appearing on only one form are analyzed. A complete list of form-related variables appears in Appendix P.

WTSS - This variable takes into consideration a) the sub-sampling of non-respondents, and b) the number of adults in the household. It also essentially maintains the original sample size. In years prior to 2004, a '1' is assigned to all cases so that they are effectively unweighted. To adjust for number of adults in years prior to 2004, a number-of-adults weight would need to be utilized as described above.

WTSSNR - This variable is similar to WTSS, but includes in an area non-response adjustment. Thus, this variable takes into consideration a) the sub-sampling of non-respondents, b) the number of adults in the household, and c) differential non-response across areas. It also essentially maintains the original sample size. As with WTSS, WTSSNR has a value of '1' assigned to all pre-2004 cases and as such they are effectively unweighted. The number of adults can be utilized to make this adjustment for years prior to 2004, but no area non-response adjustment is possible prior to 2004.

WTSSALL - WTSSALL takes WTSS and applies an adult weight to years before 2004.

WTPAN - Weight for the panel cases only.

WTNRPAN - Weight for the panel cases, considering non-respondents.

WTCOMB - Weight for both cross-section and the panel cases combined.

WTNRCOMB - Weight for both cross-section and the panel cases combined, considering non-respondents.

Note 1: Occupation and Industry Codes

The following link provides a detailed description of the occupation and industry codes utilized in the 2008 GSS dataset.: